How and Where Parents of Infants and Young Children Want to Receive Nutrition Information.

PURPOSE: To understand how and where parents of infants and young children (children ≤5 years old) prefer to receive nutrition information. METHODS: A 1-page survey was developed and pilot tested at 2 community agencies. The final survey was distributed at 18 community health centres (CHCs) in Calgary and surrounding rural areas. Any parent attending a well-child visit (child ≤5 years old) was able to participate. RESULTS: Five hundred and twenty-nine surveys were completed. The majority of respondents at every CHC identified online reading (79.2%) in their home (86.0%) as the preferred method and location to receive nutrition information. Almost all (99.4%) participants had internet access. Handouts (38.6%) were the second most popular way to receive nutrition information. In-person and online classes were only a preferred method by a small percentage of respondents, 10.6% and 8.1%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Appropriate, evidence-based nutrition websites should be promoted to parents with young children. Health professionals should be aware that parents likely access nutrition information online, and they need to provide an opportunity for parents to discuss what they found. Future research is needed to understand which websites parents access for online nutrition information and how they discern whether it is credible.

Content Validity for a Child Care Self-assessment Tool: Creating Healthy Eating Environments Scale (CHEERS).

The purpose of this project was to develop and content validate both a formative and summative self-assessment scale designed to measure the nutrition and physical activity environment in community-based child care programs. The study followed a mixed-method modified Ebel procedure. An expert group with qualifications in nutrition, physical activity, and child care were recruited for content validation. The survey was subjected to expert review through digital communication followed by a face-to-face validation meeting. To establish consensus for content validity beyond the standard error of proportion (P < 0.05) the content validity index (CVI) required was ≥0.78. Of the initial 64 items, 44 scored an acceptable CVI for inclusion. The remaining items were discussed, missing concepts identified, and a final CVI employed to determine inclusion. The final tool included 62 items with 5 subscales: food served, healthy eating program planning, healthy eating environment, physical activity environment, and healthy body image environment. Content validation is an integral step in scale development that is often overlooked or poorly carried out. Initial content validity of this scale has been established and will be of value to researchers and practitioners interested in conducting healthy eating interventions in child care.